June 28, 2012

This is officially the first blog post on my new MacBook Pro. Four days ago my new computer arrived, all matte and shiny and perfect, and now I will finally do the thing I bought this for: write.

(Ignore all the jokes from well meaning friends and *ahem* the boyfriend about how all I ever go on the computer for is Reddit and Facebook... cause there's this. I blog, guys!)

Starting in April of 2011, it took me about 6 months to pay down my credit card debt that I'd carried since my months of unemployment after college once I got a job that paid me enough to do so, then 2 months to save enough for a down payment on a new car (which was originally being saved to repair the old one), then 2-3 months to save up for taxes, then another 2-3 months to save the amount I needed for this computer and my year's worth of premium car insurance. Then, I had to wait two months because Apple was about to update the MacBook Pro. I waited a long time for this, and saved an impressive amount of money in the last year (all in all more than $8k... I live so damn frugally), and I finally have the one thing I wanted just because. I did need a new computer, but I did not need a Mac. I wanted it because I loved it. And now I have it.

So, I'd wanted/needed a new computer for quite some time, after the old one pooped out because I dropped it too many times/spilled a full glass of water on it/burned the keys off/could not use it as a laptop anymore or even close the screen.... dude, I don't know why I abused that poor machine so much more than my first computer, which was in great shape until the processor kind of stopped working and was relatively beyond repair (that and The Ex conveniently came upon my next one, making repairs unnecessary). But this one, with it's cute little rubber stoppers on the bottom and sturdy steel frame, will not be so abused.

Pause for a second to let the boyfriend stop laughing (that's right, I can hear you all the way from here!).

OK, so I'm clumsy. So I spill pretty much everything I try to carry and sometimes can't even walk on my own two feet. But when you spend this much on a machine you tend to make promises, and considering how goddamn long it took me to save up the money for this shiny new toy I intend to keep those promises and heaven help the person who drops this thing, even if it ends up being me.

Promise #1: I. Will. Not. Drop. My. Laptop. Seriously. I won't. I will not set it on the edge of the couch, will not carry it with one hand and a glass of water in the other, will not place it on any precipice where it could conceivably fall, and will not leave it open and unattended for more than a few minutes. I am not the person who can afford buying the shiniest, newest Apple product the minute it comes out so this guy is going to have to last quite some time.

Promise #2: I will keep my clean new laptop clean. It came with a special cleaning cloth, and after seeing how my old one (and my borrowed one... yuck) got super dirty, this one will be kept as clean as possible, especially because this one cannot be taken apart to clean away crumbs. I will still eat as I browse the internet (let's face it, that's just not gonna change), but I will use a napkin, keep the plate far enough from the base, and not write while eating. I'm also not putting on lotion right before using it to keep the keys from getting oily as fast as they did before, and I'm even washing my hands. Seriously. But I'm also compulsive about that sort of thing.

Promise #3: I will not do dumb things with my laptop. I bought AppleCare (not Obama Care, but we'll get to that later) so I have three whole years of safety with it, as long as I don't fuck it up too much. But I will also treat it like a PC, which I always have, and not open spammy emails or otherwise invite trouble.

Promise #4: I WILL NOT allow the cat to walk on my laptop. On the keys because she suddenly needs love, on the top because she hopped up onto the couch, no cat walking allowed. No little kitty hairs getting in between the keys, no sudden pressure on my small computer, no Chloe touching the laptop. Though she did scent mark it last night, which I didn't really blame her for. It does smell pretty nice.

Hence my self-congratulatory post about my shiny, which is officially paid for. I'm a big believer of buying/doing/eating what makes you happy and spending money wisely, and while this was almost the most expensive computer I could have bought it is also the only one that would have made me nearly this happy. Macs might not be right for everyone, but I wouldn't have bought anything else.